


Putting It All on the Table

by Olivers_ITGirl



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Figuring shit out, Fluff and Angst, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 00:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olivers_ITGirl/pseuds/Olivers_ITGirl
Summary: What happens when they leave after the meet and greet in London and Scott is still thinking about the “get married” stunt.And maybe, most importantly: why there was no birthday surprise in Vancouver.





	Putting It All on the Table

**Author's Note:**

> I would say I’m sorry about writing RPF and that I’ve never done it before, but it’s not exactly true. However, I’ve never posted it for other people to read, so go easy on me.  
> Hope you enjoy this little one-shot I wrote late last night.

“Get married!”

After 24 hours, those words— and the moments that shortly followed— were still permanently stuck in his head, playing over and over again until he had absolutely needed to focus on that night’s programs.

They had just performed in London. Home. Or the closest he would get to home for the following weeks... Then again, he had always suspected home for him consisted of where Tessa was. Didn’t matter if they were in South Korea or a small town in Canada, he felt content as long as he had her by his side.

“Ready to go,” he heard his partner ask as she exited from the women’s changing room, holding out her hand. He took it, marveling on the familiar feeling as he got up, not actually using her hold for help.

Scott smiled at Tessa, something that he did without having to remind himself, and nodded, walking by her side, her hand still in his. They knew all eyes would be on them when they got out of the arena so they had enlisted the help of their fellow skaters.

Andrew, always one to get on board with anything, had agreed immediately, dragging Kaitlyn with him. Chiddy, their best friend of god knows how many years, whom they had psychologically scarred more times than they could count for a lot of different reasons, had said he would help as well.

The plan was for them to keep the fans who had waited outside busy while Scott and Tessa drove away in her car. He hadn’t needed to bring his own as well, considering he would most likely end up crashing at her place, and it made for a quicker escape.

They were getting to Tessa’s townhouse when she finally spoke up and asked what he had been thinking so hard about all day. He had been waiting for the moment Tessa would stop ignoring his unusual quiet demeanor and it had finally arrived. Even though he had been expecting it all along, he still had no idea how to react.

It’s not like he could tell her he was desperately in love with her and wanted nothing more than to get on his knee and legitimately ask the question he had been obsessing over ever since he saw Tessa pretend to kneel right in front of him.

He couldn’t count how many times he had thought about giving up on the plan, just telling her how much she means to him in every way possible right in that moment. Hadn’t mattered if they were waking up together on a bed in Seoul, cuddling on a plane on their way home— equally tired and happy— or grocery shopping one late afternoon back in January.

He had stopped himself every single time, however, because Tessa deserved better— Tessa deserved everything—and he would do everything in his power to make sure she got it. Even if that meant he had to suppress the urge to grab her face and kiss her senseless every time she smiled his way.

He had a plan. He just needed to stick with it.

In order to do that, he kept his words to a minimum and lied to the most important person in his life, saying that nothing was going on. He was aware Tessa knew he was lying, but he also hoped she would understand that he didn’t want to discuss it right now.

He was right. She did catch his hint and stopped asking what was going on, instead keeping quiet as she looked outside the car window at the familiar neighborhoods.

They had driven around these same roads hundreds—if not thousands— of times over the years. Every time they came back, he was instinctively aware of her reactions as she took the time to take in her surroundings. He could pinpoint the exact moments she realized that something had changed whilst they had been away.

This time around, it had been a little café that she had enjoyed going to when she had been younger. He was pretty sure one of her birthday parties had been hosted there almost 20 years ago. In its place now stood a nail salon, the bright colors demanding the attention of passersby.

He spotted her smile turn into a frown as she glared at the new salon, trying to make sure it was the same spot that she remembered from all those years ago. After confirming it, she lowered her gaze, staring at her hands instead.

Not having to drive stick was incredibly useful when he reached out his hand, placing it on top of hers. She turned her hand so their palms were touching and guided his through the familiar motions that resulted in their signature handhold.

They stayed like that until he pulled over and parked in her driveway. A Hall & Oates song had started playing when they had turned into her neighborhood, so they silently sat in the car, waiting for the song to finish before they opened the doors and headed inside.

Any other day, he would have commented on her favorite band, poking fun at her and reinforcing his permanent veto on skating to their songs. Today, however, he remained quiet and let her have her moment.

As soon as the final note was played, Tessa moved her hands to remove her seatbelt and Scott mimicked her actions, following her to the house and moving to leave their suitcases in their rooms. Most of the nights he spent here, he had fallen asleep on the couch or moved to Tessa’s bed, but his suitcase was always placed in the adjacent guest room.

Not wanting to raise suspicions and somehow have Tessa find out how he felt before May 17th, he sticked to what he was so used to doing when in London and left his belongings in the room that he had barely spent any time in.

When he came back to the living room to search for his best friend, he found her making tea in the kitchen.

“No coffee tonight,” he asked, aiming for a nonchalant tone. He thinks he achieved it when he sees her smile slightly before shrugging.

“I actually want to sleep properly tonight. Want some?”

He shook his head and followed Tessa to the couch, watching as she placed her mug on the coffee table—on top of the coaster she had brought with her— and turned on the tv, leaving it on a random channel.

His arm moved to rest on the back of the couch and she shifted her body in order to fit against his side. Which she did, he noticed, perfectly. Always had.

After a few episodes of whatever was on tv— he hadn’t been playing much attention to that— Tessa got up to place her mug in the kitchen sink, making sure to bring with her the empty bowls of treats they allowed themselves to have every once in a while.

He had noticed she was quieter that usual, but then again so was he. He had blamed it on one of her favorite spots being gone at first, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. She had been curled up to him on the couch and yet he still felt like she was distancing herself from him.

He had given her time and space during the whole night, but he felt like he couldn’t wait much longer— he needed to know what was bothering her. Was she tiring herself too much? Had he done something he wasn’t aware of? Was she sad that he hadn’t told her what was on his mind?

Maybe deciding to wait wasn’t the best idea when that was all he could think about.

Planning the surprise had entailed the help of some of their friends and family members. No one knew precisely what was going on, they just thought he was planning a surprise for her birthday, which was by all means true. He had also made sure they only knew what they absolutely needed to or he was certain someone would open their big mouth before it was time.

Turns out he could actually be the one to spoil everything. Nevertheless, he was hell bent on getting to the bottom of whatever was causing Tessa to act like this and do his best to fix it.

The soft sound of her footsteps approaching the living room let him know that he would need to act sooner rather than later. He got up, paced in front of the couch for a few seconds and then quickly decided to sit back down at the end of the coach.

He noticed the way her eyebrows furrowed and her bottom lip stuck out in the slightest of ways when she noticed he had changed spots. Wanting to get this over with, he spoke first.

“What’s going on, T,” he asked, hoping that the use of the nickname he had given her when they had only known each other for a few short months would make her feel more at ease. _Maybe that will help her open up_ , he thought.

No matter how many therapy or marriage counseling sessions they had gone to, there would always be moments like this where they were left feeling helpless, not knowing what to do. He was aware they weren’t communicating properly and that was partially— if not mostly— on him, but the reason behind his behavior was anything but malicious.

The best solution he could think of was trying to deal with the situation before it got worse.

“Nothing,” Tessa answered, not meeting his eyes and using the opportunity to sit on the opposite side of the couch, their bodies going from intertwined to several inches apart.

He placed his hands on his lap, keeping himself from reaching out to her before they worked this out. Ignoring the awkwardness wasn’t a solution anymore— it had never been a good one to start with— and he just had to find a way to solve this whilst hopefully not ruining the surprise. Scott was always up for a challenge, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to take on this particular one.

“It’s not _nothing_ if you’re acting like-“

“Like what,” she questioned, interrupting him as she did. “Distant? Quiet? Closed? Does it sound familiar?”

Well, yes, it was exactly what he had been doing to her, but he knew why he was acting that way. _Why was she?_

“C’mon T, that’s not-“

“Not what? Not _fair_? Are you sure you want to talk about what’s fair?” At this point, Tessa had gotten up, an action that showed him just how upset she was. Maybe he had missed something. “You know what’s not fair? _You_ making decisions for _me_. Worst of all, it’s you deciding to throw away more than 20 years of hard work put into this relationship and have it reduced to nothing!”

 _What was she talking about? Making decisions for her? Throwing away twenty years of hard work?_ He needed to figure out what she was going on about soon or he wouldn’t be able to reassure her of the contrary.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying,” he finally spoke up, making sure to keep his voice down as she paused to take a deep breath, never stopping in one place for too long.

“I’m saying that I’m not about to let you decide that it’s okay to just let go after we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.” When he didn’t respond, too shocked to react to what he had just heard, she continued. “Do you think I can’t feel you distance yourself from me? Trying to keep me away, barely touching me unless we’re on the ice? You’ve barely spoken to me during the past few days, for fuck’s sake!”

“You think I’m trying to end our partnership,” he said, alarmed by what she seemed to be implying, which happened to be just about the complete opposite of what was actually going on in his brain. Not to mention that Tessa swore, which just left him on edge even more.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Scott. That’s the problem,” she trailed off, stopping in front of him, eyes dark with a combination of emotions he wasn’t sure he could handle at that moment. “This is exactly what happened after Sochi, but worse, because now I actually thought we were in a good place.”

“Tessa,” he called out for her, wanting to actually have her attention for what he was about to say. “You’ve got this all wrong.”

“ _Oh really?_ ” Her eyes narrow, her lips pressed in a firm line. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to start.

“Yes, I’ve been trying to keep my distance from you and yes, I’ve been stopping myself from touching you the way I usually do,” he started, getting up from his spot on the couch and walking up to her, taking her hands in his. He was pleasantly surprised when she let him even if her face still showed just how hurt and confused she was feeling. “But I swear, it’s not because of what you think.”

When he stopped talking, she lifted one of her eyebrows, waiting for him to find a goddamned good reason as to why he had involuntarily led her to believe he was preparing to leave her behind as he moved forward with his life.

He had just the perfect one and he knew he needed to convince her of how much he wanted her to keep being a part of his life— preferably an even bigger one than now— so to hell with the surprise. She would get a cake and that would be fine.

“I love you, Tessa,” he finally said, letting out a huge breath as he looked into her eyes, still holding both of her hands.

“Yes, Scott,” she answered after a few seconds, in a ‘what’s new’ tone. “I love you too, you know that.”

He let out a chuckle, shocked that she hadn’t even understood what he meant whilst he had felt like he had just told her his biggest secret. Which he had. As luck would have it, Tessa hadn’t realized that he meant that in a different way from all the other times he had said those words to her. At least, intentionally.

“No, Tess,” he smiled at her confused expression before he uttered five words that would change their relationship forever. He didn’t know if it would be in a positive way, but he sure as hell hoped so. “I’m in love with you.”

He watched as her eyes grew comically wide and her lips parted ever so slightly, letting him know just how shocked she was. He couldn’t blame her, he had felt the same way when he first admitted it to himself.

“I-“, she started, not finding the words to express how she was feeling.

After a few seconds of silence and her shocked expression, doubt started creeping in. What if he had let himself believe that she felt the same way just to protect his own feelings? What if he had been projecting his own feelings onto her?

He felt her hand leave his and his heart rate quickened as a slight sense of panic started to rise just before she placed it on the side of his face.

A wide smile now graced her face and he could swear he saw a few unshed tears in her eyes just as she broke the deafening silence with a laugh that was pure disbelief and joy.

“I’m in love with you too.”

He stood still for a second before he let go of her left hand and picked her up, spinning them around just like they did countless times on the ice.

Both of their laughs blended perfectly and when he put her down, he couldn’t help but stare at her. Her gorgeous green eyes. Her perfect nose that had been just as perfect before. Her beautiful lips. Lips that he had tasted before, something that he yearned to do again ever since.

As if she was reading his mind, she leaned in, waiting for him to do the same. He didn’t even think twice as he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers just like he had wanted to do countless times over the past few years.

It was finally happening. It didn’t matter that they would have to discuss the logistics of how to approach this, who to tell, how to act. He didn’t even care that the birthday surprise was ruined.

He had all that he cared about right there in his arms and he wasn’t letting go.

 

Turns out he did have to let go after they bumped into the coffee table and almost hurt themselves, but after that, their bodies stayed intertwined for the rest of the night as they explored the other in a way they hadn’t done in years. As they loved the other in a way they had never experienced.


End file.
